Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age

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Passports Baggage Please ensure your 10-year British Passport is not We advise you to check the baggage allowances out of date and is valid for a full three months carefully as you are likely to be charged the excess beyond the duration of your visit. EU, Andorra, if you exceed the weight limit. Maximum weights Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino or Switzerland for single bags apply. valid national identification cards are also acceptable for travel to the . With British Airways your ticket includes one hold bag of up to 23kg plus one cabin bag no bigger than 56 x 45 x 5 cm and a personal bag (handbag or Visas computer case) no bigger than 45 x 36 x 20 cm. British and EU passport holders are not required to have a visa. Please contact the airline for further information. http://www.britishairways.com

For all other passport holders please check the visa requirements with the appropriate embassy. Labels Dutch Embassy: 38 Hyde Park gate, London SW7 Please use the luggage labels provided. It is useful 5DP. Tel: (0)20 7590 3200 or (09065) 508 916 (visa to have your home address located inside your information line). Fax: (0)20 7581 348. suitcase should the label go astray. Email: [email protected].

Website: www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk Open Mon-Fri 0900-1700; 0900-1200 (for visa and Departure Tax passport section) The departure tax is included in the price of your flight tickets.

Tickets Transfers Included with your final documentation there is an On arrival in Amsterdam, transfer by coach to e-ticket which shows your flight reference number. Haarlem for a museum visit and then on to hotel to You will need to quote/show this reference number check-in. at the check-in desk and you will be issued with your boarding pass. Online check-in is not available. Special Requests If you haven’t already, please notify Travel Editions Your Group Scheduled or Club Class ticket is non- of any special requests as soon as possible to allow transferable and non-refundable. No refund can be sufficient time to make the necessary given for non-used portions. arrangements. Please note that some airlines may charge for use of wheelchairs.

Accommodation crisped kale and potatoes served with smoked Hampshire Delft Centre sausage). Seafood dishes are often excellent, particularly in The family-owned three-star Delft Centre Hotel is Amsterdam, and include gebakken zeetong (fried located - as its name suggests - in the heart of Delft sole), lekkerbekjes (fried whiting), gerookte paling just behind the New Church, so within a few (smoked eel), royal imperial oysters, shrimps, minutes' walk of the main square and all the main mussels, and lobster. Lightly salted ‘green’ herring sights. Facilities here include bar, restaurant and can be bought from street stalls (they are held by comfortable bedrooms with private bath or shower, the tail and slipped down into the throat). TV and telephone.

Favourite Dutch desserts include flensjes or For more information visit their website: pannekoeken (25 varieties of Dutch pancake), http://www.hoteldelftcentre.nl/?lang=en wafels met slagroom (waffles with whipped cream), Poffertje (small dough balls fried and dusted with sugar) and Stroopwafel (two thin layers of waffle filled with sweet sticky syrup – placed on top of a

Food hot cup of tea or coffee, the caramel syrup melts There are few dishes that can be described as deliciously). quintessentially Dutch, and those that do fall into this category are a far cry from the elaborate Restaurants usually have table service. Bars and creations of French or Italian cuisine. Almost every cafés generally have the same, though some are large town, however, has a wide range of self-service. Usually, a discretionary service charge restaurants specialising in their own brands of is added to your bill in restaurants and bars, but it is international dishes. Indonesian cuisine, a result of customary to leave small change when paying a bill. the Dutch colonisation of the East Indies, with its use of spices and exotic ingredients, is particularly delicious. Drink A typical Dutch breakfast usually consists of several Dutch beer is excellent, with pilsener-style lagers varieties of bread, thin slices of Dutch cheese, the most popular. It is always served chilled, prepared meats and sausage, butter and hagelslag generally in small (slightly under half a pint) glasses. (chocolate sprinkles), or jam, often a boiled egg and The most popular brand in Amsterdam is Amstel. a cup of coffee. For lunch, most common are Koffietafel (breads, various cold cuts, cheese and The local spirit, Jenever (Dutch gin), flavoured with conserves with a side dish of omelette, cottage pie juniper berries and served chilled, is usually taken or salad and coffee) and broodjes (sandwiches), straight and knocked back in a single go, but it is served in the ubiquitous sandwich bars – sometimes drunk with cola or vermouth. It comes in broodjeswinkels. many varieties depending on the spices used. More substantial dishes are generally reserved by Favoured brands are Bols, Bokma, Claeryn and De the Dutch themselves for the evening meal: Kuyper. Other excellent Dutch liqueurs include erwtensoep (thick pea soup served with smoked Curaçao, Parfait d’Amour, Triple Sec (similar to sausage, cubes of bacon, pig’s knuckle and brown or Cointreau) and Dutch-made versions of crème de white bread), groentensoep (clear consommé with menthe, apricot brandy and anisette. vegetables, vermicelli and meatballs), Stamppot (hearty, traditional mash-up of potatoes Meals included in the price of your holiday are: with endive, turnips or some other earthy vegetable, customarily accompanied by smoked Breakfast – daily sausage), klapstuk (an accompaniment of stewed Dinner – two dinners with wine at the hotel lean beef) and boerenkool met rookworst (frost-

Destination As the came of age in the 17th Mauritshuis century, its northern provinces led the way in a new The Mauritshuis museum in houses a style of painting that revolutionised Western art world-famous collection from the Dutch Golden and continues to fascinate art lovers to this day. Age. At the unique 17th-century palace you can Join expert lecturer Clare Ford-Wille on this tour make the acquaintance of "The Girl with a Pearl which visits a host of superb galleries and museums Earring" by Vermeer, "" by Fabritius including the renovated , housing one and "The Anatomy Lesson" by . The of the world’s greatest art collections and the Mauritshuis is a unique opportunity to see world- exquisite Mauritshuis, which has doubled in size famous paintings by the Dutch Masters at one of after its recent refurbishment. Lauded by the critics Holland's most beautiful locations. We conclude the at the reopening last year, it retains its intimate Rembrandt & the Golden Age year with the first atmosphere along with an outstanding collection of international retrospective exhibition about one of paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck and Rembrandt's most talented students: Nicolaes Rubens, among them Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Maes. With his original representations of everyday Earring' which is back in its rightful home after a life, Nicolaes Maes was one of the most innovative worldwide tour. painters of the Dutch Golden Age. His domestic scenes have been a source of inspiration for Places of interest included in the tour: painters such as Pieter de Hooch and . In his lifelike representation of emotions, The Hague Maes shows himself to be a fully-fledged student of Home to the Dutch government and Parliament, Rembrandt. The Hague is a pleasant and spacious seaside town, For more information about the Mauritshuis, please visit: with a multitude of squares, parks and more than https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/ 700 public gardens, that spreads over a vast area yet with a relatively small population, earning it the Prince William V Gallery title of the “biggest village in Europe.” Interspersed Located In the middle of the historic centre of The with elegant boulevards lined with mansions, it is a Hague, a five-minute walk from the Mauritshuis. stately place with an air of being well kept and well The Prince William V Gallery is sometimes referred moneyed. Main sights include the Groenmarkt main to as the hidden jewel of The Hague. Prince William square, the Picture Gallery of William V, the Bredius V of Oranje-Nassau had the room built in 1774 to Museum, Noordeinde Palace and St Jacobs Church. exhibit his impressive collection of paintings. The For more information about the Hague: walls hung crowded, so that the richness of his http://denhaag.com/en collection was clearly visible. The Prince William V Gallery has been restored to its former glory. More Panorama Mesdag than 150 old masters from the Mauritshuis Panorama Mesdag gives you a 360-degree vista of collection (including works by Steen, Rubens and the sea, the dunes and the fishing village of Potter) are now hanging side by side again. Crystal Scheveningen as it was in 1881. Step back in time chandeliers, silk wall coverings and lavish curtains and experience a unique view of the cultural complete the regal appearance. heritage – the oldest 19th century panorama in the For more information about the Prince William V Gallery, world on its original site. This cylindrical painting, please visit: more than 14 meters high and 120 meters in https://www.mauritshuis.nl/nl-nl/ontdek/galerij-prins- circumference, was painted by one of the most willem-v/ important painters of The Hague School, Hendrik Willem Mesdag. Delft For more information about Panorama Mesdag, please Delft, a canal-ringed city in the western visit: Netherlands, is known as the manufacturing base https://www.panorama-mesdag.nl/english/ for Delftware, hand-painted blue-and-white pottery. In its old town, the medieval Oude Kerk is the burial site of native son and Dutch Master Amsterdam is also home to many cultural and painter Johannes Vermeer. Once the seat of the historic sites, such as the intensely moving Anne royal House of Orange, the 15th-century Nieuwe Frank’s house, the Flower Market, the canals such Kerk houses the family's tombs and overlooks as Herrengracht and Singel, the Westerkerk Church Delft's lively market square. and the . For more information about Delft, please visit: https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/ Rijksmuseum more-destinations/delft.htm The Rijksmuseum is one of Amsterdam’s grandest

museums and it showed off its new (and old) look in Museum Prinsenhof Delft April 2013, following 10 years of extensive The first retrospective exhibition in the Netherlands restoration and renovation. Designed by renowned of the famous 17th-century painter Pieter de Hooch Dutch architect P.J.H. Cuypers, construction of the will be presented at the Museum Prinsenhof Delft. monumental building began in 1876 and it finally Together with Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch opened in 1885 as the largest museum in the is widely considered to be the most celebrated Delft Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum's internationally master of the 17th century. His most beautiful revered collection features some of the nation’s courtyards and interiors will return to the city most famous works, including historic art by where they were painted almost 400 years ago. Vermeer, , and perhaps most notably For more information about the museum, please visit: Rembrandt’s ‘’, which takes pride https://prinsenhof-delft.nl/pieterdehooch/?lang=en of place in a beautifully lit hall allowing visitors to

enjoy every tiny detail. Leiden Lovely Leiden is a refreshing, vibrant town, For more information about the Riijkmuseum, please patterned with canals and attractive old buildings. It visit: also has a few claims to fame: it's Rembrandt's https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en birthplace, and it's home to the Netherlands' oldest university (and 20,000 students), the Alma Mater of Rembrandt’s House René Descartes. Wealth from the linen industry Rembrandt lived and worked in this beautiful and buttressed Leiden's growing prosperity, and during monumental house between 1639 and 1658. Based the 17th century the town produced several on an inventory of the time, the house has been brilliant artists, most famously Rembrandt van Rijn redecorated with furniture, art and objects dating – better known by his first name alone. Rembrandt from the 17th century. The Rembrandt House owns was born in Leiden in 1606 and remained here for the virtually complete and world-famous collection 26 years before achieving fame in Amsterdam. of Rembrandt’s etchings. In addition, there are frequent temporary exhibitions showing work of Museum de Lakenhal predecessors and contemporaries, and modern and The Young Rembrandt, Rising Star exhibition is the current works of art in the modern wing of the finale to the national ‘Rembrandt and the Golden museum. Age’ theme year and sees the return of works, painted almost 400 years ago, to the birthplace of How did Rembrandt make his paintings and this now world-famous painter, in Leiden, the etchings? And how do we go about investigating Netherlands. The exhibition features over 40 this today? In the autumn of 2019, the museum will paintings, 70 etchings and 10 drawings, including a create a laboratory-like setting for its special number of works that have never been seen before. exhibition, ‘Rembrandt’s Technique Unpicked’, in For more information about the museum, please visit: which the new insights and the master’s secrets will https://www.lakenhal.nl/en be revealed. Discover how a drawing by Rembrandt has changed over the centuries, see what was Amsterdam added to an etching by others and consider the One of Europe’s great cities and the capital of The dilemmas of researchers and conservators. Netherlands, Amsterdam started life as a small For more information about Rembrandt’s House, please fishing village and became one of the world’s most visit: http://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/ important ports during the Dutch Golden Age. With narrow atmospheric lanes and charming canals th lined with 17 century merchant’s houses,

Our Lord in the Attic Church The canal house at Number 40, Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam, looks much like the other Queen Anne-style homes that the old city is famous for. Built as a residential home in 1630, in the heart of the oldest part of Amsterdam and bordering the infamous red-light district, this particular steep-gabled building holds a remarkable secret. Making your way through the nearly 400- year-old corridors, kitchens, and bedrooms, there is a narrow and steep staircase that leads to the upper floors. Where, hidden away in the attic, is a magnificently miniature, fully appointed Catholic church. The clandestine church, known in Dutch as a “schuilkerk,” was secreted away in the attic on purpose due to the persecution of Catholicism in Holland in the 17th century. Unable to hold mass in public, Jan Hartmann converted the attic of his home to a church in 1663. For more information about the church, please visit: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/our-lord-in-the- attic

Your lecturer/guide Clare Ford-Wille has lectured in most areas of art history for over 35 years. She still teaches at the University of London, where she obtained her degree at Birkbeck, but also lectures regularly for Morely College, the City Literary Institute, the Victoria and Albert Museum and NADFAS societies throughout Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Every year since 1978 Clare had led art study tours to places of artistic importance throughout Europe and the USA, including Amsterdam, Padova, Vincenza, Bologna and Ravenna.

Clare will give the following two talks during the tour: ‘An Introduction to the Golden Age of 17th Century ’ ‘The Art Collections in Amsterdam’

Tour manager Your tour manager will be on hand throughout the tour to ensure that everything operated according to plan. If you have any problems or questions please see him or her immediately – it is often possible to resolve complaints or problems very quickly on the spot, and do everything to help you enjoy your holiday.

carry a supply of cash with you at all times. Varying The Basics amounts of commission can be charged. Climate – The weather in the Netherlands at this time of year is likely to be similar to the UK. Electricity – 230 volt, two-pin continental plug. Evenings can be quite cool and there is the chance of the odd shower. Our best advice is to come Drinking water – Tap water is safe to drink. prepared. (Although you’ll find a huge amount of bottled water for sale too)

Shops and museums – Shops are open Mon 1100- 1730, Tues-Fri 0930-1800 and Sat 0900-1700. In big cities, supermarkets are open from 0800- 2000/2100. In large city centres, shops are open Sun 1200-1700. In many towns there is evening shopping till 2100 on Thursday or Friday. Please note than some museums close on Mondays.

Shoes & clothes –You may like to bring a warm Time – GMT +2 hours (Summer time Apr-Oct); GMT sweater for cool evenings. Light rain wear for the + 1 (Standard time Nov-Mar). occasional storm and good grip/flat walking shoes Language – Dutch. are recommended. Religion – Roman Catholic (30%), Dutch Reformed Church (11%), Other or non (42%). Camera – bring plenty of memory cards/film and any spare camera batteries as these are not always National holidays – New Year’s Day (01 Jan); Good available. Please check with your guide before Friday; Easter Monday; King’s Day; Liberation Day photographing people. (05 May); Ascension day; Whit Monday; Christmas day (25 Dec); Boxing Day (26 Dec). Bath plugs – The hotel has plugs for basins, but it is useful to carry a ‘universal’ one with you. Currency – Euro. €1 = 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of €500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Telephones/mobiles – You should be able to use Coins are in denominations of €2 and 1, and 50, 20, your mobile phone in the Netherlands, depending 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents. on your operator and contract.

Banks – Cashpoints compatible with international Tipping –To keep our tours affordable, we do not banking networks are located in all towns and cities, increase the tour price by adding in tips. However, as well as airports, major train stations and other in the tourism industry, there is a certain level of spots. They usually offer an attractive exchange expectation that when receiving a good service, one rate. Those banks that still exchange foreign does award with a tip. Tour Managers, currencies into local money will always charge a Representatives, Guides and Drivers appreciate a transaction fee, so withdrawing money from an tip at the end of their involvement with the tour, ATM usually represents the most logical means of but this is entirely at your discretion. We believe in obtaining euros. allowing you to tip according to your level of satisfaction with their services, but for your Credit cards – American Express, Diners Club, guidance about £2-3 per person per day for the tour MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted across the manager is the norm. We would like to reiterate country. If you’re eating at a restaurant, check prior that tipping is an entirely optional payment and this to the meal that your card will be an acceptable information is given purely to answer any questions form of payment. Even in cities, it’s advisable to you may have about it.

Health

Doctor/Dentist/Chemist Please talk to your tour manager if you are feeling Insurance unwell and they will organise for you to see a To be covered under your Travel Insurance Policy, doctor. if you become ill, it is essential that you contact a Keep receipts for insurance claims. local doctor and also telephone the emergency number of your insurance company. You will NOT be covered for any claim unless this procedure is carried out. Your insurance company will then Hospital decide on the best course of medical attention. Your tour manager/hotel reception will arrange hospital transport. Keep receipts for insurance claims. European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) The EHIC replaced the old E111 in 2006. Valid in all EEA countries, the card lets you get state General Health Advice healthcare at a reduced cost or sometimes for We suggest you take a good supply of your own free. It will cover you for treatment that is needed individual medicines with you and always keep to allow you to continue your stay until your some in your hand luggage in case you get delayed planned return. It also covers the treatment of or your luggage goes astray. General-purpose pre-existing medical conditions. supplies for bites, stings, or scratches, and your Please note that the EHIC is not an alternative to usual medication for headaches, or stomach travel insurance. It will not cover any private upsets are always recommended. Oral re- medical healthcare or costs such as being flown hydration sachets are excellent for topping up salt back to the UK, or lost or stolen property. and glucose levels. Therefore, it is important to have both an EHIC and Visit the NHS Fit For Travel website for more a valid private travel insurance policy. It is also generally information specific to the country you important to note that each country’s healthcare are visiting – www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk system is slightly different, so the EHIC might not cover everything that would be generally free on the NHS. We strongly recommend that you take out an Inoculations appropriate travel insurance policy when you You should check with your own doctor and take travel abroad. their advice as to which inoculations are required for the country you are visiting, as only they know For more information about the EHIC please visit: your medical history and recommendations are https://www.ehic.org.uk liable to change at short notice.

Emergencies Should an emergency arise, please call our offices on: 00 44 20 7251 0045

Outside office hours (Mon-Fri 0900-1700), telephone our emergency staff on: 00 44 7899 796542 or 00 44 7831 133079

PLEASE USE THESE NUMBERS ONLY IN THE EVENT OF A GENUINE EMERGENCY.

If you find that you are in need of consular assistance during your holiday:

British Consulate General Amsterdam Koningslaan 44 1075 AE Amsterdam Netherlands +31 (0)20 676 4343

Open Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 0900-1230. Telephone enquiries Mon-Fri 0900-1300 and 1400-1630. Outside these hours a consular Emergency Service is in operation and can be contacted on +31 (0)20 676 43 43.

Travel Editions 3 Youngs Buildings, London, EC1V 9DB Tel: 020 7251 0045 Email: [email protected] www.traveleditions.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE: THIS INFORMATION IS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PRINTING. IT IS MEANT AS A GUIDE ONLY AND WE CANNOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERRORS OR SUBSEQUENT CHANGES.